Exploration of psychosocial risk and the handling of unsafe acts and misconducts in the workplace
- Authors: Visagie, Jan , Ukpere, Wilfred I. , Swanepoel, Jacquelene
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Occupational risks , Industrial safety
- Type: Journal
- Identifier: uj:5473 , ISSN 2039-2117 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13449
- Description: The aim of this article was to investigate the psychosocial risk environment influencing employee behaviour, and subsequently the trust relationship between employer and employee. The unique nature and commonness of negative acts, such as unsafe behaviour, human errors, poor performance and negligence (also referred to as unsafe practices) are explored in this article. Pertinent literatures were reviewed on the nature of negative acts or unsafe behaviour. The findings of this study were used to draw comparisons between unsafe behaviour/misconduct and accidents in the workplace and finally recommendations were made on how the problem can be addressed from a labour relations perspective. The results indicate that a relationship between unsafe practice/misconduct and occupational injuries and accidents exist, owing to system flaws, human error or psychosocial risk.
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Responding to change in a large organization from a leadership angle
- Authors: Ukpere, Wilfred , Visagie, Jan , Coetzee, Rein
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Leadership , Organizational change
- Type: Journal
- Identifier: uj:5461 , ISSN 2039-2117 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13437
- Description: The reality today is that organizations and leaders are faced with unrelenting demands to change. Globalisation, competitiveness and ever changing business environments have forced organisations to constantly consider innovative changes. The challenge today is for leaders to be able to reduce the resistance to change, and thus allowing for successful change navigation. It is therefore necessary to be mindful of the various approaches to change in order to ensure that change can be successfully implemented. The success of any change intervention depends on the leadership of the organisation. It is therefore important to note that leadership is an enabler of any type of change. In general leadership can be seen as the driving force to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. Effective leaders know that the successful implementation of change begins with attending to the human side in the organisation. Therefore, leadership is about the leader’s ability to influence people and allowing them to change perceptions, behaviours, attitudes and finally action. This paper is an attempt to address specific requirements, referring to relevant leadership competencies and providing more empowering views on the essence of leadership in navigating a successful change intervention.
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